The Menninger Foundation is a clinic, sanatorium, and psychiatric school founded in 1919. Known as a beacon of health and reform, there have also been long-running rumors of controversy, abuse, and manipulation. Legendary Hollywood starlets like Marilyn Monroe and Judy Garland sought treatment there, and still today, many celebrities secretly spend time there.

John Henry Timmis IV, the son of a wealthy family from Chicago's northern suburbs, was diagnosed a psychopath after a string of rebellious misdemeanors as a teenager--possession of marijuana, prostitution, and theft. Timmis...